Indians Prospect Insider

Much like they did in the opening game of the season, the Carolina Mudcats pulled out a 9-7 win against the Winston Salem Dash in their first road game of the season on Friday night. First baseman Jerrud Sabourin went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, leading the Mudcats to victory.

Akron’s Chun Chen drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the 10th inning Friday night, forcing in the go-ahead run, and setting the stage for a 10-7 victory over the Bowie Baysox at Prince George’s Stadium. Chen was 2-4, with three RBI in the game, and raised his average to .320. He belted a two-run double off the wall in left field in the seventh, part of a five run Aeros rally.

An early inning hit parade would be all that the Clippers needed to hang on and defeat the Indianapolis Indians 7-6 in their home opener at Huntington Park Friday. The Clippers broke out the lumber in the bottom of the second, scoring all seven of their runs off of Indianapolis starter Kyle McPherson.

Boy did the Indians ever need that one. They got a fantastic start from Justin Masterson who shut out the White Sox through nine innings, and then Nick Swisher singled with two outs in the ninth to bring in the game winner. The IBI's Jim Berdysz recaps the the game and what was a big win for the Tribe.

As usual, the Cleveland Indians drew a sellout crowd to the home opener on Monday as 41,567 fans came to Progressive Field excited about the start to what could be a very exciting year. Yet on Tuesday, that number was down all the way to 12,663. The number becomes even worse to look at when you realize the Indians were playing the New York Yankees. So what's the deal with the Tribe's attendance woes? Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he touches on them in this week's edition of Orbiting Cleveland.

Spring training wrapped up about two weeks ago, but here are the final unofficial stats from Indians minor league spring training camp. Stats for over 100 players are listed and is a comprehensive listing of all available stats from the minor league games played this past March in Goodyear, Arizona.

Mother Nature once again decided that there should be no baseball in Cleveland Wednesday night, postponing the game for a second straight night. With no new baseball to write about -- and the bitter memories of Yankee blowouts in his head, Andrew Clayman takes a look at what the new-and-improved Travis Hafner is doing in pinstripes and whether or not it is sustainable. Join Andrew for his Second Thoughts, after the jump...

It was a quiet night all around in the Indians system as the rain in the midwestern and eastern areas of the United States resulted in rainouts in Cleveland and Columbus, and Lake County's game was called after six innings. But there was still plenty to talk about from Thursday's minor league action, and Tony steps in with some thoughts on several of the performances on the night.

The Baysox (4-4) led the Akron Aeros (2-5) from start to finish in a 5-1 win Thursday evening in the home opener in Bowie for the team's third straight win. Baysox starter Kevin Gausman cruised in his second start of the season, pitching six innings and allowing one run on two hits while striking out five in the win.

The Fort Wayne Tincaps (4-3) took advantage of three errors by the Lake County Captains (1-5) to build a 4-0 advantage before the skies opened up. The game was called after five and a half innings, giving Fort Wayne a 4-0 win. Lake County has dropped five straight ballgames.

The first full edition of Minor Happenings is back for the 2013 season. This is the piece that started it all for this site several years ago, and in today's 4300+ word piece Tony gives all kinds of updates and insights on players up and down the Indians farm system. He talks about Francisco Lindor's impressive start to the season, the aggressive placement of Jose Ramirez, the tough first outing for Mitch Brown, the plan for Cord Phelps, shares a a ton of comments from Ross Atkins, and has all kinds of information and updates on the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Matt Packer, Bryson Myles, Dorssys Paulino and more.

The Columbus Clippers' 2013 season got underway this week with two away series in Indianapolis, IN and Louisville, KY. The Clippers left Indianapolis with a series split, 2-2, and then earned a 2-1 series win over the Louisville Bats to bring their record to 4-3 on the year. The start of the season brings some early glory and forgettable woes for the club, and all of that is recapped and more in the first Clippers notebook of the year.

Wednesday night's rainout may have been the best thing to happen to Terry Francona and company this week. Still reeling from 11-6 and 14-1 losses Monday and Tuesday, last night's rain will hopefully give the team time to rest and regroup. With no game to write about, Michael Goodman shifts his Second Thoughts toward the starting rotation, focusing on the two pitchers he thinks need to step it up if Cleveland is going to right the ship.

The Inside Pitch is back for 2013. The on-line radio show is hosted by Andrew Zajac and Jeff Ellis, who are two contributing members of IndiansBaseballInsider.com. The show debuted in April of 2012 and has a heavy focus on fantasy baseball, though depending on the time of the year the show also focuses on other subjects like the Cleveland Indians, the Major League Baseball Draft, trade and free agent rumors, and lots more.

There was plenty of rain throughout the region Wednesday night, forcing cancellations for Cleveland, Akron, and Lake County. Luckily for the Mudcats and Clippers -- and Bryson Myles, Francisco Lindor, and Tyler Naquin -- they avoided the weather and got their games in. Join Jim Piascik for a slightly shortened Around The Farm, after the jump.

The Columbus Clippers used five pitchers to secure a 5-0 shutout win over the Louisville Bats on Wednesday night. The victory gave the Clippers the series win, 2-1. The headline before the game was that Clippers starting pitcher to be, Corey Kluber, was recalled back up to the majors.

It was a rough first week for the Lake County Captains as they kicked off the season with a 1-4 record, putting them in the basement of the Midwest League. The offense has yet to catch much fire and the pitching has allowed some early leads that the team has struggled to overcome. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps the week that was in the 2013 debut of the Captains notebook....

The Carolina Mudcats struck back at the series-winning Wilmington Blue Rocks, demolishing them with a 12-1 score Wednesday afternoon at Five County Stadium. Right-handed pitcher Cody Anderson (2-0) got the win for the Mudcats, pitching five innings and holding the Blue Rocks scoreless for three innings, with a three up three down inning in the second.

The doubleheader between the Lake County Captains (1-4) and the Great Lakes Loons (2-3) scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled due to inclement weather and poor field conditions. The two games are being rescheduled for the weekend of Friday April 19th when the Captains return to Dow Diamond for another three game series.

The Cleveland Indians have struggled over the past several games during the first two weeks of the season, which has led many of the teams supporters to begin to call it quits on a season that's just underway. This team is just too good, regardless of their pitching questions, not to win more than it loses. Jim Pete pulls in the gang plank for now, here on his son's birthday edition of Corner of Carnegie and Ontario...

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!